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Tootie Smith launches bid for Congress

Commissioner will not immediately give up current seat -

Clackamas County Commissioner Tootie Smith on Tuesday announced her candidacy to seek the Republican nomination to challenge Congressman Kurt Schrader (D-Canby) by making a commitment to the middle class, job creation and small businesses.

Across a district that represents most of Clackamas County, plus the Salem area and the Central Oregon Coast, people are still struggling and desperately need her voice in Congress, she argued.

Im running for Congress because Kurt Schrader said on local television that the president misled him on the health care bill, a bill he voted for but did not read or understand, she said. I will work to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Prior to her election to the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners in 2012, Smith was an Oregon state representative from 2001 to 2005. Since she is midterm as a Clackamas County commissioner, she will not have to give up her current seat unless she beat Schrader in what would currently be a major upset.

Oregons Fifth Congressional District has received a Safe Democrat rating from the independent nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report analysis of voting patterns, demographic information and fundraising since 2010.

Still vying for the chance to challenge Schrader is former congressional staffer Ben Pollock, 28, who announced his candidacy in October.